Be My Number One
Episode 2 of Tokyo Vice’s new season begins with a bike robbery. This is going to become Jake’s new assignment in the episode. Emi offers him a choice between the bike theft story and one that involves a dead yakuza member. He has no hesitation in choosing the former. Although we expected the second episode to build up on the first’s explosive ending, it begins three months after the events. And dare I say, it is uneventful. Neither Jake nor Katagiri are chasing the yakuza anymore. Their break from the whole rigamarole has a defying sense of permanence.
Meanwhile, Samantha’s club is going places. Only a few months old, it is already doing great numbers and is full on most nights. Although the roster of girls is impressive, Claudine sticks out as the brightest. She accounts for most percentage of the revenue and it is no wonder that she has been siphoning off her “fair share.” Samantha confronts her but it feels like she is more concerned for Claudine than angry. She warns Claudine that the people she is stealing from don’t take this stuff lightly.
However, Claudine decides to walk away and leave the club. It leaves Samantha short of a star attraction. And as she learns in the next few nights, Claudine’s loyal clients, Ohno being the most extravagant, will follow her. Samantha is forced to turn to Erika, from Club Onyx. They were shown to share a warm bond in Season 1. Erika is now a mother to a son but decides to try again on Samantha’s insistence.
Jake visits Katagiri at the station but is surprised to see him manning the complaint desk. Arai has demoted him to a menial profile that doesn’t suit his skills or experience. But Katagiri counts himself lucky he wasn’t fired. Junko, his wife, and the kids are still staying outside the city, suggesting the yakuza threat remains. But Katagiri believes otherwise.
Shingo, Emi’s partner, invites her to join the Shukran Forum. The Meicho’s ideological bedrock is right-wing, opposite her beliefs. However, Emi shoots down the suggestion, calling Meicho her “home.” In one of Chihara-kai’s promotional ceremonies, Sato is made the number three in the organisation. Ishida announces the return of Hayama, a ruthless clan member who is now the number two. From the outset, it is clear that the two men have a difference in their approach.
While Hayama insists that they must attack Tozawa and reclaim some of their territories, Sato wants to continue the peaceful situation. Ishida sides with Hayama as the gang prepares to assert their presence. Jake gets the address of a mechanic from Samantha in Ayase, who deals in spare parts for expensive bikes.
Katagiri is approached by Deputy Superintendent Shoko Nagata from the National Police Agency. She has got the approval to set up a special task force to take down the yakuza gangs in Tokyo. Katagiri laughs off the suggestion that it is possible, choosing to reject her offer to join.
Kaito comes to Sato for help. The family cannot rely on their father’s pension with increasing expenses. Sato agrees to help him but makes it clear it is in the capacity of a brother, not as a Chihara-kai member.
Jake is set up by the mechanic to meet Tats and his gang, who are apparently behind the thefts. Tats and Jake get off on the wrong foot and have a small tussle in the parking lot. Given Jake’s technical training, he easily neutralizes him, earning Tats’ respect. He invites Jake to have dinner with the rest of the gang and agrees to do the story.
Sato shows up at Club Polina. This is the first time Samantha and he are meeting after his stabbing. She is emotional during the meeting but Sato warns her not to fire Claudine. Samantha stands her ground but knows that this cannot go on because of the gang’s involvement.
Emi takes Jake’s first drafts to her superior. He is hesitant to clear it but is convinced by Jake’s approach of showing how the kids have fallen through the cracks due to their poverty.
When Katagiri invites Junko back with the kids, she says something revelatory about him. Junko believes Katagiri is the kind of person who cannot stand not doing the right thing. Her statement is proved when the detective goes back to Nagata and agrees to join the task force. This is despite her strategy to move away from Katagiri’s “keeping a balance between the factions” theory to completely remove the yakuza from the city.
Despite Ishida explicitly instructing Sato to stay away from guns, he secretively purchases one for himself. Later, he is seen keeping it in the safe at Club Polina, unbeknownst to Samantha. Although Erika showed great form earlier that night, it is Samantha whose charm, integrity, and persuasion brought Ohno back to the club.
Jake becomes complicit in a live robbery with Tats, despite knowing the risks if the victim identifies him. This rush of blood thing might come back to bite him. For now, he has completed a piece he is proud of and is then invited by Mitsuki where they engage in sex. Another bad decision probably but it could also be the start of something new.
The Episode Review
I low-key expected Katagiri to remain aloof from the yakuza at the beginning. But I am glad that the writers clearly distinguished between “want” and “expectation” to thrust him back into the action. Jake has also invariably stepped closer to going back into the organized crime world. Although Yabuki said in Episode 1 that Tozawa wasn’t coming back, without him Tokyo Vice would lack an intimidating villain. Hayama is clearly back to shake things up and so is Nagata.
The two characters are alike but on different spectrums of morality. The clash will give new energy to Season 2, charting a familiar path for the story to grow. Will things be different this time around? Only time will tell.
Episode 2 sees the beginnings of many new relationships and subplots. The makers managed the different strands efficiently in the first season and they will do well to repeat the formula again.
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